Image transmitting device that captures an image when a braking operation of a vehicle is performed

ABSTRACT

In order to enhance security of a parked vehicle, an image transmitting device to be mounted on a vehicle includes: a checking unit that checks, at a parking place of the vehicle, communicability with an external device outside of the vehicle, that is, whether an image can be transmitted from the parking place to the external device; a providing unit that provides notification information based on a result of the checking by the checking unit; a capturing unit that captures an image while the vehicle is parked; and a transmitting unit that transmits the image captured by the capturing unit to the external device.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to devices including a security camera orthe like mounted on a vehicle such as an automobile, and particularly toan image transmitting device that transmits an image captured by acamera to the outside of a vehicle.

BACKGROUND ART

In the context of increasing awareness about security for automobile orthe like, an in-vehicle security device including a camera has beenproposed (see Patent Literature (PTL) 1, for instance). PTL 1 disclosesa technique for causing a communication unit in a vehicle to provide,when an abnormality is detected by an abnormality detecting unit of thevehicle, an image of surroundings or an inside of the vehicle capturedby a camera to a communication terminal of a user through a wirelesscommunication line. With this, on-site image data is transmitted to theuser when the abnormality occurs to the vehicle, and thus the user canrecognize a on-site situation and obtain the image data as evidence forvehicle theft or the like.

CITATION LIST Patent Literature

[PTL 1] Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No.2003-127835

SUMMARY OF INVENTION Technical Problem

Unfortunately, the technique disclosed in PTL 1 does not necessarilyfunction effectively depending on a parking location of the vehicle.This is because wireless communication is subject to influence ofvarious conditions such as a base station density around the parkinglocation of the vehicle and radio wave absorption due to a size,material, or the like of surrounding buildings. Therefore, the securityof the vehicle cannot be ensured (e.g., the user cannot obtain evidencefor vehicle theft or the like.) by applying the technique disclosed inPTL 1, depending on a radio wave condition (possibility of wirelesscommunication) of a place where the vehicle is parked.

In view of this, the present invention provides an image transmittingdevice that is to be mounted on a vehicle and enhances security of thevehicle that is parked.

Solution to Problem

An image transmitting device according to one aspect of the presentinvention is an image transmitting device to be mounted on a vehicle,the image transmitting device including: a checking unit configured tocheck communicability with an external device outside of the vehicle, ata parking place of the vehicle; a providing unit configured to providenotification information based on a result of the checking by thechecking unit; a capturing unit configured to capture an image while thevehicle is parked; and a transmitting unit configured to transmit theimage captured by the capturing unit to the external device.

Advantageous Effects of Invention

An image transmitting device according to the present invention makes itpossible to enhance security of a parked vehicle.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a vehicle security systemaccording to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram of an image transmitting deviceaccording to Embodiment 1.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing exemplary placement of image transmittingdevices to an automobile.

FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram of an image transmitting device.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart showing operation performed by an imagetransmitting device.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a display example (displayed receivingsensitivity) of a cockpit of an automobile.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a display example (displayed receivingsensitivity) of a cockpit of an automobile.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a display example (displayed receivingsensitivity) of a cockpit of an automobile.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a display example (displayed estimated stoptime) of a cockpit of an automobile.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a display example (displayed image storingtime) of a cockpit of an automobile.

FIG. 11 is a functional block diagram of an image transmitting deviceaccording to a modification.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a display example (displayed occurrence ofabnormality) of a cockpit of an automobile.

FIG. 13 is a flow chart showing image analytical processing.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a situation where a suspicious personapproaches a parked automobile.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing an exemplary image (comparative image)captured by an image capturing device.

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing an exemplary image captured by an imagecapturing device and including a suspicious person.

FIG. 17 is a functional block diagram of an image transmitting deviceaccording to a modification.

FIG. 18 is a schematic diagram of an image transmitting device accordingto a modification.

FIG. 19 is a diagram showing exemplary placement of thermal imagesensors, image capturing devices, and room lamps to an automobile.

FIG. 20 is a diagram showing exemplary placement of thermal imagesensors, image capturing devices, and room lamps to an automobile.

FIG. 21 is a schematic block diagram of an image transmitting deviceaccording to Embodiment 2.

FIG. 22 is a functional block diagram of an image transmitting device.

FIG. 23 is a diagram showing an exemplary display screen of a carnavigation system.

FIG. 24 is a flow chart showing destination input correspondingprocessing in an image transmitting device.

FIG. 25 is a diagram showing an exemplary display screen of a carnavigation system.

FIG. 26 is a diagram showing an exemplary display screen of a carnavigation system.

FIG. 27 is a diagram showing an exemplary display screen of a carnavigation system.

FIG. 28 is a diagram showing exemplary images captured by imagecapturing devices and disclosed.

FIG. 29 is a diagram showing exemplary placement of a thermal imagesensor and an image capturing device to an automobile.

FIG. 30 is a diagram showing an exemplary image of a road surfacecaptured by an image capturing device.

FIG. 31 is a diagram showing an exemplary thermal image of a roadsurface captured by a thermal image sensor.

FIG. 32 is a diagram showing exemplary display of a road surfacecondition.

FIG. 33 is a diagram showing exemplary placement of an image capturingdevice and headlights to an automobile.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

In order to enhance security of a vehicle, an image transmitting deviceaccording to one aspect of the present invention is an imagetransmitting device to be mounted on a vehicle, the image transmittingdevice including: a checking unit configured to check communicabilitywith an external device outside of the vehicle, at a parking place ofthe vehicle; a providing unit configured to provide notificationinformation based on a result of the checking by the checking unit; acapturing unit configured to capture an image while the vehicle isparked; and a transmitting unit configured to transmit the imagecaptured by the capturing unit to the external device. It is to be notedthat since the image transmitted by the transmitting unit is subject toinfluence of a communication environment (e.g., buildings surroundingthe parking place) for the external device at the parking place, theimage is not always necessarily received by the external device. A user(driver), however, can guess, from the notification information, whetherthe image captured while the vehicle is parked can be transmitted to anoutside of the vehicle, and can change the parking place as necessary,for instance, and thus it is possible to enhance the security of theparked vehicle.

Here, for example, the checking unit may be configured to perform thechecking by measuring, at the parking place of the vehicle, receptionelectric field intensity of radio waves from the external device.

With this, the communicability with the external device is checked bythe measuring, and thus when the vehicle is parked, the user can surelyguess whether the image transmission for ensuring the security ispossible.

Moreover, the image transmitting device may include: an obtaining unitconfigured to obtain, for each of positions, communicability positioninformation from a server device outside of the vehicle, thecommunicability position information indicating communicability with theexternal device at the position; a receiving unit configured to receivedesignation of a position of a parking place as a planned arrival placeof the vehicle; a positioning unit configured to measure a position ofthe vehicle; and a transferring unit configured to transfer, to theserver device, the position of the parking place and the receptionelectric field intensity measured at the parking place by the checkingunit, wherein the checking unit may be configured to perform, during aperiod for which the vehicle has not arrived at the parking place ofwhich the designation is received by the receiving unit, the checkingfor the communicability with the external device at the parking place,based on the communicability position information.

With this, the communicability with the external device at the parkingplace is checked before the vehicle arrives at the parking place, andthus before parking the vehicle, the user can change a planned parkingplace (planned arrival place of the vehicle) as necessary based on aresult of the checking. In addition, information about thecommunicability with the external device at each place is accumulated inthe server device and can be put to practical use.

Furthermore, the image transmitting device may further include apositioning unit configured to measure a position of the vehicle,wherein the checking unit may be further configured to examinecommunicability with the external device by measuring reception electricfield intensity of radio waves from the external device, at a placeother than the parking place of the vehicle, and the providing unit maybe further configured to provide information based on a result of theexamining, when a result of the checking shows that the communicabilityis denied, the information indicating a position which is within apredetermined distance range from the parking place of the vehicle andwhere communication with the external device is possible.

With this, when the result of the checking at the parking place showsthat the communicability with the external device is denied, the usercan know a parking place candidate that is to be a changed parkingplace.

Moreover, the image transmitting device may further include: a receivingunit configured to receive designation of a position of a parking placeas a planned arrival place of the vehicle; and a positioning unitconfigured to measure a position of the vehicle, wherein the checkingunit may be further configured to examine communicability with theexternal device by measuring reception electric field intensity of radiowaves from the external device, at a place other than the parking placeof the vehicle, and the providing unit may be further configured toprovide information based on a result of the examining by the checkingunit, when the vehicle is at a position within a predetermined distancerange from the parking place as the planned arrival place, theinformation indicating a position where communication with the externaldevice is possible.

With this, when the vehicle approaches a position at a certain distanceor less from the planned arrival place (planned parking place) of thevehicle, the user can know a parking place candidate.

Furthermore, the checking unit may be further configured to examinecommunicability with the external device by measuring reception electricfield intensity of radio waves from the external device, at a placeother than the parking place of the vehicle, and the transmitting unitmay be configured to avoid transmitting the image when the result of thechecking shows that the communicability is denied, and subsequentlytransmit the image when a result of the checking or a result of theexamining shows that the communicability is confirmed.

With this, the image captured at the parking place is transmitted whenthe communication with the outside becomes possible even in the casewhere the image was not successfully transmitted to the outside, andthus it is possible to obtain, at the outside of the vehicle, an imageas evidence for vehicle theft or a stolen item in the vehicle.

Moreover, the providing unit may be configured to provide thenotification information indicating, according to the measured receptionelectric field intensity, one of levels of the communicability that isthe result of the checking.

With this, the user can check the notification information and judgewhether the parking place is suitable for ensuring the security of thevehicle.

Furthermore, the checking unit may be configured to perform the checkingby confirming, through communication with the external device, that theimage transmitted by the transmitting unit at the parking place of thevehicle is received by the external device.

With this, the communicability with the external device is checked byactually transmitting the image at the parking place, and thus the usercan surely understand whether the security of the vehicle issufficiently ensured at the parking place, based on a result of thechecking.

Moreover, the image transmitting device may further include a detectingunit configured to determine whether the vehicle is in a predeterminedstopped state, wherein the checking unit may be configured to performthe checking when the detecting unit determines that the vehicle is inthe predetermined stopped state, and avoid the checking when thedetecting unit determines that the vehicle is not in the predeterminedstopped state. Here, the predetermined stopped state is a parking state,for example.

With this, it is possible to efficiently check the communicability withthe external device to ensure the security of the vehicle.

Furthermore, the image transmitting device may further include anabnormality detecting unit configured to detect occurrence of anabnormal situation by analyzing the image captured by the capturingunit, wherein the providing unit may be further configured to provide,when the abnormality detecting unit detects the occurrence of theabnormal situation, information indicating the occurrence of theabnormal situation, in the case where the result of the checking showsthat the communicability is denied.

With this, when the abnormal situation occurred, the user who hasreturned to the parked vehicle can see the information indicating theoccurrence of the abnormal situation, and take a prompt action.

Moreover, the capturing unit may be configured to record sequentiallycaptured images onto a storage medium, the transmitting by thetransmitting unit may be transmitting a captured image recorded on thestorage medium, and the providing unit may be further configured toprovide information indicating an amount of time that is available forthe sequentially captured images to be recorded onto the storage medium,when the result of the checking shows that the communicability isdenied.

With this, when the captured image cannot be transmitted to the outside,the user can know how long images can be recorded.

Furthermore, the capturing unit may be configured to record sequentiallycaptured images onto a storage medium, and perform the capturing or therecording according to a predetermined condition, the transmitting bythe transmitting unit may be transmitting a captured image recorded onthe storage medium, the image transmitting device may further receive aninput for a scheduled parking time when the result of the checking showsthat the communicability is denied, and the capturing unit may beconfigured to set the predetermined condition to continue performing thecapturing and the recording for the scheduled parking time.

With this, when the captured image cannot be transmitted to the outside,images can be captured and recorded for the scheduled parking timeinputted by the user, and thus the security of the vehicle can beenhanced.

Moreover, the image transmitting device may further include a sensingunit configured to sense that a person is approaching the vehicle,wherein the capturing unit may be configured to perform the capturingwhen the sensing unit continuously performs the sensing for apredetermined time or longer.

With this, images can be efficiently captured to ensure the security ofthe vehicle. It is to be noted that although a direction of a capturingcamera as the capturing unit may be toward at lease one of the outsideand the inside of the vehicle, the direction is assumed to be adjustedto a direction suitable for ensuring the security when the imagetransmitting device is mounted on the vehicle.

Furthermore, the image transmitting device may further include: anobtaining unit configured to obtain, for each of positions,communicability position information from a server device outside of thevehicle, the communicability position information indicatingcommunicability with the external device at the position; and areceiving unit configured to receive designation of a position of aparking place as a planned arrival place of the vehicle, wherein thechecking unit may be configured to perform the checking for thecommunicability with the external device at the parking place of whichthe designation is received by the receiving unit, based on thecommunicability position information.

With this, the communicability with the external device at the parkingplace is checked before the vehicle arrives at the parking place, andthus before parking the vehicle, the user can change a planned parkingplace (planned arrival place of the vehicle) as necessary based on aresult of the checking.

Moreover, the providing unit may be further configured to provideinformation indicating a parking place candidate when the result of thechecking shows that the communicability is denied.

With this, the user can know the parking place candidate for ensuringthe security of the parked vehicle.

Furthermore, the providing unit may be configured to perform theproviding by displaying the notification information on one region of adriver display panel of the vehicle.

With this, for instance, the user can see the display panel whilesitting behind the wheel, to easily confirm whether the parking place isto be changed or the like.

Moreover, the capturing unit may be further configured to capture aninfrared image using an infrared camera directed toward an outside ofthe vehicle while the vehicle is traveling.

With this, since a situation of the outside of the vehicle (e.g., roadsurface) that is difficult to identify in a visual light range iscaptured, and an image obtained by capturing the situation istransmitted to the server device outside of the vehicle or the like,information indicating a road surface condition or the like can beaccumulated in the server device.

Furthermore, an image transmitting device according to one aspect of thepresent invention is an image transmitting device to be mounted on avehicle, the image transmitting device including: a capturing unitconfigured to capture an infrared image using an infrared cameradirected toward an outside of the vehicle while the vehicle istraveling; and a transmitting unit configured to transmit the infraredimage captured by the capturing unit to an external device.

With this, since a situation of the outside of the vehicle (e.g., roadsurface) that is difficult to identify in a visual light range iscaptured while the vehicle is traveling, and an image obtained bycapturing the situation is transmitted to the server device outside ofthe vehicle or the like, information indicating a road surface conditionor the like can be accumulated in the server device. Then, the serverdevice makes it possible to, for instance, disclose or distribute theinformation indicating the road surface condition on the Internet.

Moreover, the image transmitting device may further include a sensingunit configured to sense that a braking operation of the vehicle hasbeen performed, wherein the capturing unit may be configured to performthe capturing when the sensing unit senses that the braking operationhas been performed.

With this, the capturing can be efficiently performed in a situationwhere attention is required when the vehicle is traveling.

Furthermore, the image transmitting device may further include achecking unit configured to check communicability with an externaldevice outside of the vehicle, wherein the capturing unit may beconfigured to record sequentially captured infrared images onto astorage medium, and the transmitting unit may be configured to avoidtransmitting information about the infrared image when the result of thechecking shows that the communicability is denied, and subsequentlytransmit a captured infrared image recorded on the storage medium when aresult of the checking shows that the communicability is confirmed.

With this, an image captured when transmission to the outside becomespossible is immediately transmitted, and thus the server device outsideof the vehicle or the like makes it possible to immediately distributenew information, for instance.

These general and specific aspects may be implemented using a device, asystem, a method, an integrated circuit, a computer program, acomputer-readable recording medium, and so on, or any combination ofsystems, methods, integrated circuits, computer programs,computer-readable recording media, and so on.

The following describes embodiments with reference to the drawings.

Each of the embodiments described below shows a preferred specificexample of the present invention. The numerical values, shapes,materials, structural elements, the arrangement and connection of thestructural elements, steps, the processing order of the steps, etc.shown in the following embodiments are mere examples, and therefore donot limit the present invention. Therefore, among the structuralelements in the following embodiments, structural elements not recitedin any one of independent claims indicating the most superordinateconcept of the present invention are described as arbitrary structuralelements. Moreover, each of figures is diagrammatic representation, andis not necessarily strictly illustrated.

In each embodiment, a vehicle security system including an imagetransmitting device mounted on a vehicle, a mobile terminal held by adriver (user) of the vehicle, and so on will be mainly described.

Embodiment 1

Hereinafter, Embodiment 1, one aspect of the present invention, will bedescribed.

Configuration

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a vehicle security system 10according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The vehicle security system 10 is a system mainly for capturing, with acamera, an image of surroundings or an inside of a vehicle under acertain condition and transmitting the image to a mobile terminal of auser (driver) so as to ensure security of the vehicle. Here, anautomobile is used as an example of the vehicle for illustrativepurposes.

As shown in the figure, the vehicle security system 10 includes, forinstance, a server device 20, a base station 31, a base station 32, animage transmitting device 100 mounted on an automobile 99, and a mobileterminal 50 held by a user 51, all of which are connected by a network11 such as the Internet. It is to be noted that although only the oneautomobile is shown in the figure, the vehicle security system 10 mayinclude image transmitting devices mounted on respective automobiles,and many base stations. The base stations 31 and 32 are, for example,devices that are placed in specific locations and wirelessly communicatewith a mobile station such as the image transmitting device 100 and themobile terminal 50. The mobile station is capable of communicating withthe server device 20 or the like and another mobile station connected tothe network 11 via those base stations. The server device 20 is a devicethat accumulates images or the like transmitted by mobile stations orthe like and transfers the accumulated images or the like to the mobilestations. For instance, when the image transmitting device 100 transmitsa captured image of surroundings or the like of the vehicle that isattached to an e-mail intended for the mobile terminal 50, the serverdevice 20 has a function as a mail server. With this, for example, theimage transmitted by the image transmitting device 100 mounted on theautomobile 99 parked at a position where communication with the basestation 32 is possible can arrive at the base station 32 and the mobileterminal 50 of the user 51 via the base station 32. It is to be notedthat an image may not be attached to an e-mail for transmission.

The mobile terminal 50 is a terminal device such as a smart phone and atablet carried by the user 51, the driver, and includes a memory, aprocessor, an input interface, a display, a communication interface thatwirelessly connects to the network 11 via the base station 31 or thelike, and so on. The memory is a ROM, a RAM, or the like, and stores acontrol program for achieving control processing for controlling eachcomponent of the mobile terminal 50, a setting value used by the controlprogram, and so on. Moreover, the memory is also used to temporarilystore each value used when the processor executes the control program.The processor executes the control program stored in the memory, andaccordingly the mobile terminal 50 fulfills a function to receive animage transmitted by the image transmitting device 100 and display theimage on a display. With this, the user 51 who has left the automobile99 after parking the automobile 99 can check a situation of surroundingsof the automobile 99 with the carried mobile terminal 50. It is to benoted that the communication interface of the mobile terminal 50enables, for instance, communication with a base station or the likethrough 3rd Generation (3G) network used for a mobile telephone networkor wireless communication such as 4G (LTE: Long Term Evolution).

Hereinafter, a configuration of the image transmitting device 100mounted on the automobile 99 will be described.

FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram of the image transmitting device100. As shown in the figure, the image transmitting device 100 includescomponents (hardware configuration) such as an image capturing device(camera) 101, a storage device 102, a transmitter 103, a detector 105, acontroller 107, and a cockpit 110. Moreover, the image transmittingdevice 100 may operate with power from a battery of the automobile 99,for example, and include an interface with a control system (system thatdetects an engine stop of an automobile and outputs a status of theautomobile) of the automobile 99, for instance.

The image capturing device 101 is a camera using a charge coupled device(CCD), a complementary MOS (CMOS) sensor, or the like for capturing theinside or outside of the automobile 99, and has sensitivity in at leastpart of a visual light range (wavelength of 400 to 700 nanometers), forinstance. Although the single image capturing device 101 is shown inFIG. 2, the number and placement of the image capturing devices 101 maybe changed. For example, like image capturing devices 101 a to 101 dshown in FIG. 3, some of the image capturing devices 101 may be placedto the front, back, left, and right sides of the automobile 99.Furthermore, some of the image capturing devices 101 may be placed tothe front side according to angles of view at which the cameras arecapable of performing capturing, to capture a scene ahead of theautomobile 99. It is to be noted that an arrow in FIG. 3 indicates atraveling direction of the automobile 99.

The storage device 102 is a storage medium (recording medium) such as amemory and hard disk for temporarily storing images captured by theimage capturing device 101.

The transmitter 103 is a communication circuit that wirelesslytransmits, using radio waves, the images temporarily stored in thestorage device 102, to a base station (e.g., the base station 31)outside the automobile, and modulates images and transmits the images astransmission waves 104 to a radio antenna of the base station.

The detector 105 is a communication circuit that detects (receives)detection waves 106, radio waves transmitted from the radio antenna ofthe base station (e.g., the base station 31) outside the automobile, andis capable of measuring reception electric field intensity of thedetection waves 106.

The cockpit 110 is a display panel that notifies information to allowthe driver (user) who has taken the driver's seat of the automobile 99to visually recognize the information. The display panel may include adisplay, for instance, and may be an instrument panel for displayingmeters (e.g., speedometer) necessary for driving, for instance.Moreover, the display panel may include a component for receiving anoperation performed by the user such as a touch panel covering a surfaceof the display or the like and buttons arranged around the display.

The controller 107 is a device that controls the components of the imagetransmitting device 100 such as the image capturing device 101, thestorage device 102, the transmitter 103, the detector 105, and thecockpit 110. The controller 107 has, for instance, a processor and amemory. The controller 107 performs control of each component such astransmitting a control signal to the component, by the processorexecuting a control program stored in the memory, and thus achieves afunction of each functional structural element that is to be describedlater.

FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram of the image transmitting device100.

The image transmitting device 100 having the above-mentionedconfiguration includes a capturing unit 181, a storing unit 182, atransmitting unit 183, a checking unit 184, a providing unit 185, and adetecting unit 186 in terms of a functional aspect, that is, asfunctional structural elements.

Here, the capturing unit 181 is composed of the image capturing device101 and the controller 107. The capturing unit 181 has a function tosequentially capture an image under a certain condition and store theimage into the storing unit 182.

The storing unit 182 is realized by one storage region of the storagedevice 102, and has a function to store an image captured by thecapturing unit 181.

The transmitting unit 183 is composed of the transmitter 103 and thecontroller 107. The transmitting unit 183 has a function to read animage stored in the storing unit 182 and transmit the image to anexternal device under a certain condition. Here, the external device isa device outside of the automobile 99, and is a base station such as thebase station 31, for instance. It is to be noted that the imagetransmitted to the base station is transmitted to, for example, themobile terminal 50 carried by the user 51 via the server device 20 oranother base station. It is also to be noted that the transmitting unit183 may delete, from the storing unit 182, an image that has beensuccessfully transmitted. Moreover, for instance, the transmitting unit183 may store into the storing unit 182 information indicating whichimage has been transmitted (is deletable), and delete a deletable imagebased on the information and according to a need for the capturing unit181 to store a new image.

The checking unit 184 is composed of the detector 105 and the controller107. The checking unit 184 has a function to perform a checking processfor checking communicability with an external device by measuringreception electric field intensity of the detection waves 106, and totransmit, to the providing unit 185 and the transmitting unit 183,information indicating a check result. The external device is the basestation 31, for instance. It is to be noted that in the checking unit184, a frequency band of radio waves received as the detection waves 106by the detector 105 is previously determined to correspond to afrequency band in which the transmitter 103 transmits an image. Thetransmitting unit 183 determines whether a certain condition fortransmitting an image is satisfied according to a check result of thechecking unit 184, and avoids transmitting the image when thecommunicability is denied.

The providing unit 185 is composed of the cockpit 110 and the controller107, and has a function to display on the cockpit 110 display content(notification information) according to a check result transmitted bythe checking unit 184. It is to be noted that the providing unit 185 mayuse, instead of the cockpit 110, a head-up display, a display of a carnavigation system, or the like for display. For example, the providingunit 185 may use, for display, a display of the mobile terminal of theuser connected through wire or near field communication (e.g., Bluetooth(registered trademark)) to the automobile 99. In addition to thedisplaying, the providing unit 185 may give notice of contentcorresponding to a check result, using voice such as a speaker.

The detecting unit 186 is composed of the controller 107 and, forexample, an interface with the control system of the automobile 99. Thedetecting unit 186 has a function to detect a state where the automobile99 is parked and a state where the automobile 99 is started after beingparked (the automobile 99 is driven), and to transmit a detection resultto the checking unit 184. For instance, the control system of theautomobile 99 detects an engine stop and manages a state such as whetherthe automobile is parked or the like, and the detecting unit 186determines whether the automobile is parked or the like based on asignal from the control system. It is to be noted that instead ofobtaining a signal from the control system based on an engine stop orthe like, the detecting unit 186 may use an output of an accelerationsensor, a global positioning system (GPS) receiver, or the like todetermine whether the automobile is parked (i.e., in a predeterminedstopped state).

Operation

Hereinafter, an operation performed by the image transmitting device 100having the above-mentioned configuration will be described in line withFIG. 5.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart showing an operation performed by the imagetransmitting device 100. The operation shown in the figure is anoperation performed by the image transmitting device 100 when thedetecting unit 186 determines that the automobile 99 has been parked orhas been started after being parked.

When the detecting unit 186 of the image transmitting device 100determines that the automobile 99 has been parked (step S1), thechecking unit 184 checks communicability with an external device bymeasuring reception electric field intensity of detection waves 106 thatcan be received at a parking place of the automobile 99 (step S2). Whenthe automobile 99 is parked as a result of its engine stop or the like,it is checked whether the image transmitting device 100 is capable oftransmitting an image captured to ensure security while the automobile99 is parked, to the external device at the parking place. Generally,when radio waves from the external device cannot be stably received dueto influence of buildings or the like surrounding the parking place,stable transmission to the external device cannot also be performed, andthus checking communicability with the external device by measuringreception electric field intensity leads to roughly showtransmissibility. When transmission to the external device is possible,an image can be checked with, for example, the mobile terminal 50carried by the user 51 (driver) away from the automobile 99 while theautomobile 99 is parked, and the security is ensured. When, forinstance, the checking in step S2 shows that the reception electricfield intensity measured for the detection waves 106 from the basestation 31 near the parking place is greater than a predetermined level,the communicability is confirmed, and when the reception electric fieldintensity is less than the predetermined level, the communicability isdenied. Here, the predetermined level is a value set previously based onan experiment, theoretical rationalization, or the like to allow thepredetermined level to be reception electric field intensity of a signalfrom a base station in a state where stable communication is possiblebetween base stations. It is to be noted that the measuring of receptionelectric field intensity may be performed once or more than once, andwhen reception electric field intensity greater than the predeterminedlevel is measured each time, the communicability may be confirmed by wayof showing that stable communication is possible, and in other cases,the communicability may be denied. It is to be noted that while thedetecting unit 186 determines that the automobile 99 is not parked, thechecking unit 184 avoids performing the checking.

Subsequently, the providing unit 185 displays on the cockpit 110 displaycontent corresponding to a check result of the checking unit 184 (stepS3). When the check result shows that the communicability is confirmed,the cockpit 110 displays receiving sensitivity information 111 such as“Receiving sensitivity OK” shown in FIG. 6. By looking at the display onthe cockpit 110 such as “Receiving sensitivity OK,” the user (driver)who has stopped the engine of the automobile 99 can recognize that theimage transmitting device 100 is capable of stably transmitting an imagesince a signal from a neighboring base station can be received. In otherwords, the user can confirm that the security will be ensured. Moreover,when the check result shows that the communicability is denied, thecockpit 110 displays the receiving sensitivity information 111 such as“Unreceivable” shown in FIG. 7. When looking at the display of“Unreceivable” on the cockpit 110, the user (driver) changes the parkingplace, looks for a place where the receiving sensitivity information 111shows “Receiving sensitivity OK,” for example, and parks the automobile99 at the place. It is to be noted that the providing unit 185 maydisplay the reception electric field intensity measured by the checkingunit 184 as one of reception levels divided into stages, and anexemplary display in this case is shown in FIG. 8. In the figure, thereceiving sensitivity information 111 is displayed as “Reception level3” which is highest when the reception levels range from the lowest 0(meaning reception electric field intensity is substantially equal tozero) to the highest 3 (meaning reception electric field intensity ishighest).

Next, when the check result of the checking unit 184 shows that thecommunicability is confirmed (step S4), the capturing unit 181 starts tocapture an image of surroundings or an inside of the automobile 99 basedon a capturing condition (e.g., capturing interval, image quality, andimage compression method) previously set, for instance. It is to benoted that each of images sequentially captured by the capturing unit181 (images generated through capturing) is stored into the storing unit182. Then, the transmitting unit 183 reads from the storing unit 182 theimage captured by the capturing unit 181, and starts to transmit theimage to the external device (step S6). A final destination of an imageis previously set by the user, and is the mobile terminal 50 carried bythe user 51, for example. With this, it is possible to take a promptaction to prevent the vehicle, an item inside the vehicle, or the likefrom being stolen while the vehicle is parked, and even when the vehicleor the item inside the vehicle is stolen, it is possible to storeevidence for identifying a thief or the like.

Furthermore, when the check result shows that the communicability isdenied in step S4, the image transmitting device 100 receives an inputoperation for a scheduled parking time by the user (step S7). Then, thecapturing unit 181 sets (e.g., changes) a capturing condition based on afree space of the storing unit 182 to allow images captured for thescheduled parking time to be stored into the storing unit 182 (step S8),and starts to capture an image based on the capturing condition (stepS9). For instance, when the scheduled parking time is two hours, thecapturing unit 181 sets a capturing condition for capturing andrecording such as a capturing interval, image quality, and a compressionratio of image data to allow images captured for the two hours to bestored into the storing unit 182. Examples of the capturing conditionmay include whether to use color or black and white, a pixel density,and a bit resolution, or other elements. It is to be noted that theproviding unit 185 may be caused to display a time until capturing isstopped, according to the scheduled parking time for which the inputoperation is received in step S7. FIG. 9 shows an example where thecockpit 110 displays an estimated stop time 113. It is to be noted thatalthough a captured image is not transmitted when the communicabilitywith the external device is denied, for instance, an image that isstored in the storing unit 182 and is not yet transmitted may bedisplayed on the cockpit, a display, or the like by the providing unit185 according to an operation performed by the user who has returned tothe automobile 99. In addition, the image that is stored in the storingunit 182 and is not yet transmitted may be transmitted to the externaldevice after the automobile 99 has moved to a place where transmissionis possible.

Moreover, when the detecting unit 186 determines that the automobile 99has been started after being parked in step S1, the capturing unit 181stops capturing an image (step S10). Then, when an image that is not yettransmitted remains in the storing unit 182, the transmitting unit 183may attempt to transmit the image to the external device (step S11).This transmission may be performed when, for instance, it is determinedthat communication with the external device becomes possible bymeasuring reception electric field intensity of the detection waves 106,or may be canceled in response to an operation performed by the user(driver).

It is to be noted that when the automobile 99 is parked, the capturingunit 181 starts to capture an image (steps S5 and S9). The user (driver)is highly likely to leave the automobile 99 after parking the automobile99, and thus starting to capture an image when the automobile 99 isparked is useful in efficiently ensuring the security. However, thecapturing may be performed before the automobile 99 is parked (e.g.,still traveling), and constant capturing may be performed, for example.

Hereinafter, another processing method when the check result of thechecking unit 184 shows that the communicability is denied will bedescribed.

When the check result shows that the communicability is denied, insteadof steps S7 and S8 shown in FIG. 5, the image transmitting device 100may determine a free space of the storing unit 182 and cause theproviding unit 185 to display information about the free space. Theinformation about the free space is, for instance, informationindicating an amount of time available for captured images to berecorded onto the storage medium. FIG. 10 shows an example where theproviding unit 185 displays an image storable time 112, informationabout a free space, on the cockpit 110. It is to be noted that a valueof the image storable time 112 is calculated from a free space of thestoring unit 182 (e.g., capacity of a region not used for an image thatis not yet transmitted in the storing unit 182) and a capturingcondition currently set to the capturing unit 181. With such displaying,the user can recognize that when the user returns to the automobile 99within a time indicated by the image storable time 112, all imagescaptured by the capturing unit 181 while the user is away from theautomobile 99 can be stored continuously. It is to be noted thatalthough when the automobile 99 is parked at a place where communicationwith the external device is impossible, the user cannot check an imagewhile being away from the automobile 99, in the case where capturedimages are stored, it is possible to increase the probability ofidentifying a thief when an item inside the automobile 99 is stolen orthe like.

As described above, in order to ensure the security of the parkedautomobile 99, the image transmitting device 100 determines whether animage can be transmitted to the external device by checking thecommunicability with the external device based on the measurement of thereception electric field intensity of the detection waves 106. Inaddition, for instance, the image transmitting device 100 provides, bydisplaying the check result, the user with a basis for judgment whetherto change the parking place in order to ensure further security.

Modification 1

Hereinafter, an image transmitting device 100 a resulting from modifyingpart of the image transmitting device 100 will be described.

FIG. 11 is a functional block diagram of the image transmitting device100 a that is a modification of the image transmitting device 100.

The image transmitting device 100 a includes a providing unit 185 a andan abnormality detecting unit 187 that are not included in the imagetransmitting device 100, in addition to the capturing unit 181, thestoring unit 182, the transmitting unit 183, the checking unit 184, andthe detecting unit 186 that are the same functional structural elementsas those of the image transmitting device 100. It is to be noted thatcomponents (hardware configuration) of the image transmitting device 100a are basically the same as those of the image transmitting device 100.

The abnormality detecting unit 187 includes the controller 107. Theabnormality detecting unit 187 has a function to analyze an imagecaptured by the capturing unit 181 and stored in the storing unit 182,and to determine whether a suspicious person is in the image, that is,detects occurrence of an abnormal situation. It is to be noted that theabnormality detecting unit 187 may include an image processingprocessor.

The providing unit 185 a is composed of the cockpit 110 and thecontroller 107, and has the same function as the providing unit 185.When the abnormality detecting unit 187 determines that the suspiciousperson is in the image (abnormal situation has occurred), the providingunit 185 a displays information indicating that the abnormal situationhas occurred. When the occurrence of the abnormal situation is detected,for instance, as shown in FIG. 12, the providing unit 185 a displays onthe cockpit 110 abnormal occurrence information 119 such as “Suspiciousperson present.” It is to be noted that instead of the cockpit 110, ahead-up display, a display of a car navigation system, or the like maybe used for display. Moreover, information indicating the presence of asuspicious person may be transmitted, for instance, through near fieldcommunication (Bluetooth (registered trademark)) to the mobile terminalof the user. With this, when the user is within a communication range ofnear field communication, the user can check the information indicatingthe presence of the suspicious person.

When the detecting unit 186 determines that the automobile 99 has beenparked or started after being parked, the image transmitting device 100a having the above-mentioned configuration performs the operation shownin FIG. 5. When the automobile 99 is parked, capturing of an image isstarted (steps S5 and S9). Then, the image transmitting device 100 aperforms image analytical processing shown in FIG. 13 while the image isbeing captured.

FIG. 13 is a flow chart showing image analytical processing.Hereinafter, an operation performed by the image transmitting device 100a for the image analytical processing will be described in line with thefigure. The image analytical processing shown in the figure is performedfor each captured image. It is to be noted that when the capturing unit181 is composed of image capturing devices such as the image capturingdevices 101 a to 101 d shown in FIG. 3, each of the image capturingdevices performs the image analytical processing shown in the figure.

The abnormality detecting unit 187 of the image transmitting device 100a obtains images one by one in capturing order that are sequentiallycaptured by the capturing unit 181 and stored in the storing unit 182(step S21). The abnormality detecting unit 187 first reads from thestoring unit 182 an image captured first after the automobile 99 isparked. The abnormality detecting unit 187 stores the image capturedfirst after the automobile 99 is parked (step S22) as a comparativeimage (step S23). The abnormality detecting unit 187 reads from thestoring unit 182 an image captured second or subsequently (step S21).Since the image captured second or subsequently is not the imagecaptured first (step S22), the abnormality detecting unit 187 comparesthe image captured second or subsequently and the stored comparativeimage. In other words, the abnormality detecting unit 187 determineswhether the image captured second or subsequently matches thecomparative image (step S24). When the image captured second orsubsequently matches the comparative image, the image captured second orsubsequently is the same as the image captured immediately after theautomobile 99 is parked; and thus it can be presumed that the imagecaptured second or subsequently does not include the suspicious personor the like. When the image captured second or subsequently does notmatch the comparative image, it can be presumed that the image capturedsecond or subsequently includes the suspicious person or the like. Sincethe determination of matching in step S24 is image comparison forchecking the presence of the suspicious person, the determination ofmatching in step S24 does not require strict perfect match. It is to benoted that in the comparison, an image to be a difference between imagesmay be generated, and the presence of a person may be determined byanalyzing the image (e.g., pattern matching using the features of aperson), to determine whether an abnormal situation has occurred. Inaddition, it may be determined that an abnormal situation has occurredwhen a person is present for a certain time (e.g., one or more minutes),and then the information indicating the occurrence of the abnormalsituation in step S26 may be displayed.

When an obtained image matches the comparative image (step S24), theabnormality detecting unit 187 causes the transmitting unit 183 to avoidtransmitting the obtained image (step S25). This avoidance oftransmission is achieved by, for instance, the abnormality detectingunit 187 deleting an image in the storing unit 182. The avoidance oftransmission makes it possible to reduce power consumption as well as anetwork load. It is to be noted that instead of the avoidance oftransmission, the frequency of transmission may be reduced during aperiod when an abnormal situation does not occur (when each ofsequentially obtained images matches a comparative image).

Moreover, when the obtained image does not match the comparative imagein step S24, the abnormality detecting unit 187 gives the providing unit185 a notice of the occurrence of an abnormal situation, and theproviding unit 185 a displays information indicating the occurrence ofthe abnormal situation (step S26).

The following will describe an exemplary operation at a time when aperson 115 approaches the automobile 99 after the automobile 99 isparked in the case where the capturing unit 181 is composed of the imagecapturing devices 101 a to 101 d placed to the front, back, right, andleft sides of the automobile 99 to capture the outside of the automobile99 as shown in FIG. 14.

First, when the automobile is parked, the abnormality detecting unit 187stores an image captured by the image capturing device 101 b as acomparative image (steps S21 to S23). This comparative image is an image117 a shown in FIG. 15, for example. The image 117 a includes anelectric lamp 118 within an angle of view of the image capturing device101 b (camera). An image that does not match the comparative image afterbeing compared to the comparative image includes something that did notexist when the automobile 99 was parked. An image captured by the imagecapturing device 101 when the person 115 approaches the left side of theautomobile 99 with respect to a traveling direction of the automobile 99is an image 117 b shown in FIG. 16, for instance. The image 117 bincludes the person 115 in addition to the electric lamp 118. Thus, theabnormality detecting unit 187 obtains the image 117 b and gives theproviding unit notice of the occurrence of an abnormal situation becausethe image 117 b does not match the comparative image, and the providingunit 185 a displays information indicating the occurrence of theabnormal situation (refer to FIG. 12) (steps S21, S22, S24, and S26).Even when images captured while the automobile 99 is parked have notbeen successfully transmitted, the user can immediately recognize, basedon the display (refer to FIG. 12), that the suspicious person hasapproached the automobile 99 after returning to the automobile 99, andcan take a prompt action such as checking whether anything abnormal hasoccurred inside and outside of the automobile 99.

It is to be noted that in addition to the providing unit 185 adisplaying the information indicating the occurrence of the abnormalsituation in step S26, when the image transmitting device 100 a iscommunicable with the external device, the image transmitting device 100a may transmit to the external device the information indicating theoccurrence of the abnormal situation together with the captured image.With this, the user 51 away from the parked automobile 99 can receiveand confirm the information indicating the occurrence of the abnormalsituation with the carried mobile terminal 50 via the external device.As a result, the user 51 can take a prompt action such as returning tothe automobile 99. The image transmitting device 100 a may record on thestorage device 102 a time when a suspicious person is captured,identification information of an image capturing device that hascaptured the suspicious person, and so on along with an image includingthe suspicious person, and provide them immediately in response to aninput operation performed by the user. It is to be noted that only whena check result of the checking unit 184 shows that the communicabilitywith the external device is denied, the providing unit 185 a may givenotice of the occurrence of an abnormal situation in step S26.

Modification 2

Hereinafter, an image transmitting device 100 b resulting from adding tothe image transmitting device 100 a a sensing unit that senses approachof a person or the like will be described.

FIG. 17 is a functional block diagram of the image transmitting device100 b.

The image transmitting device 100 b includes a sensing unit 188 inaddition to the capturing unit 181, the storing unit 182, thetransmitting unit 183, the checking unit 184, the providing unit 185 a,the detecting unit 186, and the abnormality detecting unit 187 that arethe same functional structural elements as those of the imagetransmitting device 100 a. It is to be noted that components (hardwareconfiguration) of the image transmitting device 100 b include the samecomponents of the image transmitting device 100 and the imagetransmitting device 100 a, a thermal image sensor 120, and a room lamp121.

The thermal image sensor 120 is, for instance, a sensor (infraredcamera) that has sensitivity in a far infrared range of wavelength of 8to 12 micrometers and is for capturing an infrared image (thermalimage). The thermal image sensor 120 is connected to the controller 107and the storage device 102. The sensor detects a heat generating body,and thus is capable of detecting a person even when an environment isdark such as nighttime and the underground.

The room lamp 121 is an illuminating device that is connected to thecontroller 107 and placed to an upper portion of the interior of theautomobile 99.

The sensing unit 188, a functional structural element of the imagetransmitting device 100 b, is composed of the thermal image sensor 120,the room light 121, and the controller 107. The sensing unit 188 storesinto the storing unit 182 images sequentially captured by the thermalimage sensor 120, analyzes the images, lights the room lamp 121 whendetecting a person (heat generating body) approaching the automobile 99for a predetermined time (e.g., one minute) or more, and instructs thecapturing unit 181 to perform capturing. It is to be noted that unlikethe image transmitting device 100 and the image transmitting device 100a, in the image transmitting device 100 b, the capturing unit 181 doesnot perform capturing using the image capturing device 101 until thecapturing unit 181 receives an instruction to perform capturing from thesensing unit 188.

It is to be noted that the numbers of the thermal image sensors 120 andthe room lamps 121 are not necessarily limited to one. FIG. 19 is adiagram showing exemplary placement of thermal image sensors, imagecapturing devices, and room lamps to an automobile. As shown in thefigure, thermal image sensors 120 a to 120 d and image capturing devices101 a to 101 d are paired respectively and placed to the automobile 99.In other words, the image capturing device 101 a and the thermal imagesensor 120 a are placed to the front side of the automobile 99.Likewise, the image capturing device 101 b and the thermal image sensor120 b are placed to the left side of the automobile 99, the imagecapturing device 101 c and the thermal image sensor 120 c are placed tothe right side of the same, and the image capturing device 101 d and thethermal image sensor 120 d are placed to the back side of the same.Moreover, four room lamps 121 a to 121 d are placed to the interior ofthe automobile 99. To put it differently, the room lamp 121 a is placedto the front side of the interior, the room lamp 121 b is placed to theleft side of the interior, the room lamp 121 c is placed to the rightside of the interior, and the room lamp 121 d is placed to the back sideof the interior.

Hereinafter, an operation performed by the image transmitting device 100b having the above-mentioned configuration will be described.

When the detecting unit 186 determines that the automobile 99 has beenparked or started after being parked, the image transmitting device 100b performs the operation shown in FIG. 5. In this regard, however, notimage capturing by the capturing unit 181 but thermal image capturing bythe sensing unit 188 (thermal image sensors 120 a to 120 d) is startedin steps S5 and S9. Subsequently, when the sensing unit 188 senses thatthermal images sequentially captured by one of the thermal image sensors120 a to 120 d continuously include a heat generating body for apredetermined time (e.g., one minute) or more, the sensing unit 188lights a corresponding one of the room lamps 121 a to 121 d. Then, acorresponding one of the image capturing device 101 a to 101 d isinstructed to start to perform capturing. In an example shown in FIG.19, since the person 115 approaches the left side of the automobile 99,a thermal image captured by the thermal image sensor 120 b includes theperson 115, and accordingly the room lamp 121 b is lighted and capturingby the image capturing device 101 b is started. With this, even when theperson 115 approaches the automobile 99 in darkness, the thermal imagesensor 120 b is capable of sensing the person 115 (heat generatingbody), and the image capturing device 101 b is capable of illuminatingthe person 115 with the room lamp 121 b and properly capturing an imageincluding the person 115. When the image capturing device 101 b is acamera using a CCD, a CMOS sensor, or the like, the image capturingdevice 101 b has sensitivity in a wavelength region approximately from400 to 700 nanometers. As a result, the image capturing device 101 b isnot capable of performing capturing in darkness, but is capable ofproperly capturing the person 115 if the person 115 is illuminated withthe room lamp 121 b. It is to be noted that as shown in steps S21 to S24in FIG. 13, the sensing of the inclusion of the heat generating body bythe sensing unit 188 can be performed by storing, as a comparativeimage, a thermal image captured when the automobile 99 is parked andcomparing the comparative image and a thermal image capturedsubsequently. It is also to be noted that a person may be sensed byperforming, for example, pattern matching based on a difference betweenthe comparative image and the thermal image captured subsequently.

Such an image transmitting device 100 b is capable of properly capturinga suspicious person even when the automobile 99 is parked at night,underground, or the like (environment is dark), and of ensuring thesecurity of the parked automobile 99. Moreover, in this case, since theroom lamp is lighted only when the suspicious person is detected, it ispossible to reduce power consumption (battery power consumption ofautomobile 99) more than when the room lamp is always lighted.Furthermore, by warning the suspicious person with the lighting of theroom lamp, it is possible to increase the possibility of preventing thesuspicious person from performing an action such as car break-in(stealing item in an automobile).

It is to be noted that in the image transmitting device 100 b, when animage captured by the capturing unit 181 is transmitted to the externaldevice, a thermal image captured by the thermal image sensor 120 or thelike may be also transmitted. With this, the user can easily know whathas been captured. Moreover, when the sensing unit 188 senses thatthermal images sequentially captured continuously include a person for apredetermined time or more, the notification of information indicatingthe occurrence of an abnormal situation in step S26 shown in FIG. 13 maybe performed. Furthermore, it may be determined whether a suspiciousperson is included based on an image captured by an image capturingdevice after the thermal image sensor senses a heat generating body. Inaddition, the image capturing device may perform capturing beforereceiving an instruction to perform capturing from the sensing unit 188.

Moreover, when the sensing unit 188 senses not that thermal imagessequentially captured continuously include a heat generating body for apredetermined time or more but that a thermal image simply includes theheat generating body, the sensing unit 188 may light a room lamp andcause the image capturing device to start to perform capturing.

Furthermore, not only the same numbers of the thermal image sensors andthe image capturing devices are placed as the pairs as shown in FIG. 19,but also, for instance, the number of the image capturing devices may bereduced by placing a greater number of the thermal image sensors. Forexample, as shown in FIG. 20, the thermal image sensors 120 a to 120 dmay be respectively placed to the front, back, left, and right sides ofthe automobile 99, and a single image capturing device 123 that isrotatable as shown by an arrow in the figure may be placed on a centralupper portion of the automobile 99. Then, the thermal image sensors 120a to 120 d may detect a position of a person who approaches theautomobile 99, the image capturing device 123 may be rotated or the liketo perform capturing in a direction of the position, and an image may becaptured. With this, it is possible to reduce the number of the imagecapturing devices, and thus to configure the image transmitting deviceinexpensively.

Embodiment 2

Hereinafter, Embodiment 2, one aspect of the present invention, will bedescribed. A vehicle security system according to Embodiment 2 has thesame device configuration as the vehicle security system 10 according toEmbodiment 1 (refer to FIG. 1). For this reason, the same elements orthe like as those of Embodiment 1 are referred to using the samereference signs. In Embodiment 2, however, the automobile 99 includes animage transmitting device 200 instead of the image transmitting device100. Unlike the image transmitting device 100, the image transmittingdevice 200 checks communicability with an external device at a parkingplace before the automobile 99 is parked.

Configuration

Hereinafter, a configuration of the image transmitting device 200 willbe described.

FIG. 21 is a schematic block diagram of the image transmitting device200. The image transmitting device 200 includes a car navigation system201 as a component (hardware configuration) in addition to the samecomponents (image capturing device 101, storage device 102, transmitter103, detector 105, controller 107 and cockpit 110) as those of the imagetransmitting device 100. Moreover, the image transmitting device 200 mayoperate with power from a battery of the automobile 99, for example, andinclude an interface with a control system (system that detects anengine stop of an automobile and outputs a status of the automobile) ofthe automobile 99, for instance. Although the single image capturingdevice 101 is shown in FIG. 2, the number and placement of the imagecapturing devices 101 may be changed. For example, like the imagecapturing devices 101 a to 101 d shown in FIG. 3, some of the imagecapturing devices 101 may be placed to the front, back, left, and rightsides of the automobile 99.

The car navigation system 201 includes, for instance, a processor, amemory, a GPS receiver, a display, and a touch panel attached to thesurface of the display. The car navigation system 201 receives an inputof a travel destination for the automobile 99 from a user (driver) anddisplays, for example, a traveling route to the destination on a map.The car navigation system 201 transmits the inputted destination to thecontroller 107 in response to control by the controller 107.

FIG. 22 is a functional block diagram of the image transmitting device200.

The image transmitting device 200 having the above-mentionedconfiguration includes the capturing unit 181, the storing unit 182, thetransmitting unit 183, the providing unit 185, the detecting unit 186, achecking unit 284, a receiving unit 291, an obtaining unit 292, apositioning unit 293, and a transferring unit 294 in terms of afunctional aspect, that is, as functional structural elements. It is tobe noted that functions of the capturing unit 181, the storing unit 182,the transmitting unit 183, the providing unit 185, and the detectingunit 186 are the same as those in the image transmitting device 100.

The receiving unit 291 is composed of a user interface (touch panel) orthe like of the car navigation system 201 and the controller 107, andhas a function to receive an input of a position of a parking place as adestination of the automobile 99, that is, a planned arrival place,which is made by the user (driver). The user can input the destinationby, for instance, touching a portion of a map displayed on a display(touch panel) by the car navigation system 201. FIG. 23 shows anexemplary input. The figure shows a state where a portion of a map shownon a screen 202 a displayed on the display of the car navigation system201 and touched by the user is received as a destination 203 and isshown as a dashed rectangle. It is to be noted that the input ofdestination may be performed using other methods, and may be performedby moving a cursor displayed on a map through a button operation or thelike, for example. In addition, the designation of destination may beperformed by, for instance, an input (e.g., input of longitude andlatitude) through a keyboard or the like without depending on the carnavigation system 201.

The obtaining unit 292 is composed of the detector 105 (communicationcircuit) and the controller 107, and has a function to obtaincommunicability position information via a base station from a specificserver device in the network 11. It is to be noted that the detector 105not only measures electric field intensity of a reception signal butalso demodulates the reception signal as information. Thecommunicability position information is information indicating, for eachof positions, communicability with an external device at the position,and indicates which parking place of an automobile allows an imagecaptured by the capturing unit 181 to be stably transmitted to theexternal device. The communicability position information may indicatereception electric field intensity (reception level) at each position,for instance. Here, a description is given assuming that the specificserver device is the server device 20 (refer to FIG. 1).

The checking unit 284 is composed of the detector 105 and the controller107. Like the checking unit 184 in the image transmitting device 100,the checking unit 284 performs a checking process for checkingcommunicability with the external device by measuring reception electricfield intensity of the detection waves 106. The checking unit 284 has afunction to transmit information indicating a check result to theproviding unit 185, the transmitting unit 183, and the transferring unit294. Furthermore, in a period from when the receiving unit 291 receivedan input of a destination to when the automobile has not arrived at thedestination, the checking unit 284 has a function to checkcommunicability with the external device at the destination based not onmeasurement of reception electric field intensity but on communicabilityposition information obtained by the obtaining unit 292.

The positioning unit 293 is composed of the GPS receiver or the like ofthe car navigation system 201 and the controller 107, and has a functionto measure a current position of the automobile 99 and transmit thecurrent position to the transferring unit 294.

The transferring unit 294 is composed of the transmitter 103(communication circuit) and the controller 107, and has a function totransmit to the server device 20 a check (examination) result ofcommunicability with the external device obtained by measuring receptionelectric field intensity and received from the checking unit 284, and aposition of the automobile 99 received from the positioning unit 293.

It is to be noted that the providing unit 185 is composed of the cockpit110, the display of the car navigation system 201, and the controller107, and has a function to display display content according to a checkresult transmitted by the checking unit 184, on the cockpit 110 and thedisplay.

Operation

When the detecting unit 186 determines that the automobile 99 has beenparked or started after being parked, the image transmitting device 200having the above configuration performs the operation shown in FIG. 5,like the image transmitting device 100.

It is to be noted that the transferring unit 294 may transmit to theserver device 20 a check result based on measurement of receptionelectric field intensity by the checking unit 284 in step S2 shown inFIG. 5, together with a position measured by the positioning unit 293.It is to be noted that this transmission may be performed when theserver device 20 becomes communicable, and as long as a check result tobe transmitted is information indicating communicability with anexternal device, the check result to be transmitted may be receptionelectric field intensity (reception level) of detection waves, forinstance. Moreover, the checking unit 284 may examine thecommunicability with the external device based on measurement ofreception electric field intensity, while the automobile 99 istraveling. Then, the providing unit 185 may display the check result,that is, the reception level, a position (candidate parking place) wherecommunication with the external device is possible, and so on, on thecockpit 110 or the like. With this, the user (driver) can select a placewhere the check result is satisfactory, before parking the automobile.Moreover, the transferring unit 294 may transmit the check result andthe position measured by the positioning unit 293 to the server device20 at a time when the server device 20 is communicable, while theautomobile is traveling. With this, the server device 20 is capable ofcollecting the information indicating the communicability with theexternal device at each position, from each of vehicles such as theautomobile 99 including the image transmitting device 200, andaccumulating the above-mentioned communicability position information.Then, the server device 20 transmits the communicability positioninformation in response to a request from the image transmitting device200 or the like. It is to be noted that communicability positioninformation that is held and can be transmitted by the server device 20may be generated by a method other than a method for collectinginformation from a vehicle.

Furthermore, when the receiving unit 291 receives an input of adestination by the user, the image transmitting device 200 performsdestination input corresponding processing shown in FIG. 24.

FIG. 24 is a flow chart showing destination input correspondingprocessing in the image transmitting device 200. Hereinafter, thedestination input corresponding processing will be described in linewith the figure.

The obtaining unit 292 obtains from the server device 20 communicabilityposition information about an area including a destination of which theinput is received by the receiving unit 291 (step S31). This obtainmentof communicability position information is performed by the imagetransmitting device 200 communicating with the server device 20 via abase station or the like. When the image transmitting device 200 isincapable of communicating with the server device 20, communicabilityposition information is obtained after the communication is madepossible by traveling (movement) of the automobile 99. It is to be notedthat before the receiving unit 291 receives the input of thedestination, the obtaining unit 292 may obtain communicability positioninformation about a broad area when the image transmitting device 200 iscapable of communicating with the server device 20.

Subsequently, the checking unit 284 checks communicability with anexternal device at the destination of which the input is received by thereceiving unit 291, based on the communicability position informationobtained by the obtaining unit 292 (step S32). In response totransmission of a check result by the checking unit 284, the providingunit 185 displays information about the communicability with theexternal device at the destination (parking place at which theautomobile 99 is expected to arrive), on the cockpit 110 or the displayof the car navigation system 201 (step S33). FIG. 8 shows an exemplarydisplay on the cockpit 110. Moreover, FIG. 25 shows an exemplary displayon the display of the car navigation system 201. A screen 202 billustrated by FIG. 25 shows a map in which a denser concentrationpattern is superimposed on a place having higher communicability with anexternal device to display electric field intensity (reception level) ofa signal from the external device. The screen 202 b shows that areception level at a destination 203 corresponds to 3 among the dividedstages 0 to 3. It is to be noted that a reception level or the like ateach position on the map can be estimated by calculation such asinterpolation based on communicability position information. When theautomobile approaches a place at a certain distance or less from thedestination, the providing unit 185 may provide a reception level or thelike using voice. For instance, voice such as “Currently Reception Level3” may be emitted from a speaker in the automobile, or a reception levelmay be provided by changing a tone of beep. With this, the user canrecognize the reception level without transferring the user's gaze tothe cockpit 110 while driving, and thus convenience for the user isenhanced. It is to be noted that the receiving sensitivity information111 (refer to FIG. 8) may be always displayed or may be displayed onlywhen the automobile approaches a place at a certain distance or lessfrom the destination (when the automobile is at a position within apredetermined distance range from the destination). Alternatively, thereceiving sensitivity information 111 is always displayed, andhighlighting such as enlarging may be performed when the automobileapproaches a place at a certain distance or less from the destination.

According to such an image transmitting device 200, the user (driver)can confirm whether the security of the automobile 99 to be parked atthe destination where the automobile 99 is to arrive is sufficientlyensured before arriving at the destination (parking place). In otherwords, the user who will leave the automobile 99 after parking it at thedestination can confirm in advance whether the user can receive, withthe mobile terminal, an image to be captured by the image capturingdevice 101 via the external device, and check the image.

Thus, when it is confirmed that the security cannot be sufficientlyensured, the user can change the destination to, for example, anotherneighboring parking place before arriving at the destination. Anexemplary operation of changing a destination will be described usingFIG. 26 and FIG. 27.

First, the user has designated as a destination a parking place closestto the super market “ABC super.” In view of this, FIG. 26 shows a screen202 c displayed on the display of the car navigation system 201 when areception level of the destination is not highest. In such a case, theuser can change the destination by, for example, touching another placeon the map. For instance, the user performs a destination changeoperation to designate another parking place close to the “ABC super” asa destination. FIG. 27 shows a state where the destination is changed.The figure shows a screen 202 d in a state where the user touchesanother parking place having reception level 3 to designate it as adestination 204. It is to be noted that when the destination 204 isdesignated, the car navigation system 201 performs route display or thelike while the automobile 99 is traveling, to guide the automobile 99 tothe destination.

It is to be noted that when a destination inputted by the user is aplace where the communicability with the external device is notsufficiently high, the image transmitting device 200 may search for aparking place which is within a certain distance from the destinationand where the communicability is sufficiently high, and display theparking place as a destination candidate on the display. Such searchingfor a destination candidate (alternative destination) is performed basedon neighborhood map information and communicability positioninformation. It is to be noted when the map information includes, forinstance, information about a facility such as “ABC super” and itsaffiliated parking places, at a time of the searching, a parking placeclosest to the destination among the affiliated parking places of thefacility may be searched for and displayed as a destination candidate(parking place candidate).

Embodiment 3

Hereinafter, Embodiment 3, one aspect of the present invention, will bedescribed. In Embodiment 3, an example will be described where the imagetransmitting device 100 described in Embodiment 1 is modified and imagescaptured by the image capturing devices 101 a to 101 d are used.

Here, a device (modified image transmitting device) obtained bymodifying the image transmitting device 100 including the imagecapturing devices 101 a to 101 d (refer to FIG. 3) and described inEmbodiment 1 will be described. It is to be noted that the modifiedimage transmitting device is the same as the image transmitting device100 except for points to be described below. In other words, themodified image transmitting device includes components (hardwareconfiguration) such as the image capturing devices 101 a to 101 d, thestorage device 102, the transmitter 103, the detector 105, thecontroller 107, and the cockpit 110.

The modified image transmitting device is mounted on the automobile 99,and the image capturing devices 101 a to 101 d are placed to the front,back, left, and right sides of the automobile 99. While the automobile99 is traveling, the modified image transmitting device transmits, usingthe transmitter 103, images captured by cameras (image capturing devices101 a to 101 d) directed toward the outside of the automobile 99. Theimages transmitted by the modified image transmitting device areforwarded to, for instance, a web server (e.g., server device 20)connected to the network 11 via a base station, and are disclosed on theInternet. With this, the public or a specific person can browse theimages (video) sequentially captured while the automobile 99 istraveling.

For example, when the user (driver) drives the automobile to anacquaintance's home, there is a case where the user almost reaches theacquaintance's home but gets lost or a case where the user needs to takea detour due to unexpected construction work or the like. In eithercase, the acquaintance can immediately know a position and a situationof the driver by checking images disclosed on the Internet with a smartphone, a computer, or the like via the Internet, and thus appropriatelyshow the driver the way.

FIG. 28 shows exemplary images captured by the image capturing devices101 a to 101 d and disclosed on the Internet. A screen 301 shown in thefigure is a screen of a web page, and displays videos 301 a to 301 d inrespective four divided regions. The video 301 a includes imagessequentially captured by the image capturing device 101 a, and similarlythe videos 301 b, 301 c, and 301 d include corresponding imagessequentially captured by the respective image capturing devices 101 b,101 c, and 101 d.

The acquaintance can recognize a position of the driver byunderstanding, based on these videos 301 a to 301 d, surroundingbuilding information (bank (BANK) ahead of the automobile 99 on theleft, a supermarket on the left of the automobile 99, a conveniencestore ahead of the automobile 99 on the right, a bookstore (BOOKS) onthe right of the automobile 99, and so on) for the traveling automobile99. Moreover, the acquaintance can instantly know that there isconstruction work ahead of the automobile 99, and promptly inform thedriver of a detour. Furthermore, voice that is a conversation betweenthe driver and the acquaintance can be transmitted as communicationcontent by the communication circuit included in the image transmittingdevice 100. With this, the acquaintance can recognize the sameinformation as when the acquaintance is in the vehicle 99, and have aproper conversation (communication) with the driver. It is to be notedthat the number and placement of the image capturing devices may bearbitrary.

The images captured by the image capturing devices 101 a to 101 d anddisclosed on the Internet may be stored in a server (e.g., server device20) or the like. With this, even when the automobile 99 gets into anaccident, it is possible to check afterward in what situation theaccident occurred, a license plate of an automobile that caused theaccident, and so on.

Embodiment 4

Hereinafter, Embodiment 4, one aspect of the present invention, will bedescribed. In Embodiment 4, an example will be described where the imagetransmitting device 100 b shown as Modification 2 of Embodiment 2 andincluding the image capturing device and the thermal image sensor ismodified, and the image capturing device 101 a and the thermal imagesensor 120 a are placed to the front side of the automobile 99.

Here, a device (second modified image transmitting device) obtained bymodifying the image transmitting device 100 b (refer to FIG. 19) shownin Modification 2 of Embodiment 1 will be described. It is to be notedthat the second modified image transmitting device is the same as theimage transmitting device 100 b except for points to be described below.In other words, the second modified image transmitting device includescomponents such as the image capturing device 101 a, the storage device102, the transmitter 103, the detector 105, the controller 107, thecockpit 110, the thermal image sensor 120 a, and the room lamp 121(refer to FIG. 18 and FIG. 19). It is to be noted that the room lamp 121may not be included. The second modified image transmitting device ismounted on the automobile 99, and the image capturing device 101 a andthe thermal image sensor 120 a are placed to the front side of theautomobile 99. FIG. 29 is a diagram showing exemplary placement of thethermal image sensor 120 a and the image capturing device 101 a to theautomobile 99.

While the automobile 99 is traveling, the second modified imagetransmitting device sequentially captures images using the imagecapturing device 101 a and the thermal image sensor 120 a directedtoward the outside of the automobile 99, adds a road surface conditionahead of the automobile 99 to temperature information based on theimages, and notifies the user (driver) of the temperature information.

When the image capturing device 101 a is a camera using a CCD sensor, aCMOS sensor, or the like and has sensitivity in at least part of awavelength from 400 to 700 nanometers, an image of a scene ahead of theautomobile 99 captured by the image capturing device 101 a is an image401 shown in FIG. 30, for instance. The image 401 of a road ahead of thetraveling automobile 99 includes a puddle 411 and ice 412.Unfortunately, it is not easy to discern the puddle 411 and the ice 412that are translucent, based on the image. The thermal image sensor 120a, however, captures a temperature distribution as an image. An image ofa scene ahead of the automobile 99 captured by the thermal image sensor120 a is an image 402 shown in FIG. 31, for example. The image 402 of aroad includes a portion 411 a having lower temperature than surroundingsand a portion 412 a having much lower temperature than the surroundings.Since the temperature of a puddle portion is lower than a portion of adry road and the temperature of an icy portion is much lower than theportion of the dry road, the portion 411 a corresponding to the puddleand the portion 412 a corresponding to the ice are discerned based onthe image 402. The second modified image transmitting device generatesan image 403 shown in FIG. 32 based on the both images, for instance,and displays the generated image on the cockpit 110 or the like. In areflection of an analysis result of the image 402 based on temperature,the image 403 includes a warning display 415 that is “Caution! Slipperyroad!” indicating the puddle 411, and a warning display 416 that is“Caution! Icy road!” indicating the ice 412. With this, the user(driver) can properly understand a road surface condition that isdifficult to judge with the naked eye (road surface condition includingtranslucent puddle or ice that is difficult to visually identify), bylooking at the displayed image 403.

The second modified image transmitting device may further measure aposition of the automobile 99 using the GPS receiver or the like, andtransmit, to a server in a network, the position together with imagescaptured by the image capturing device 101 a and the thermal imagesensor 120 a and an image generated based on these images (e.g., images401 to 403). The server is the server device 20, for example. The serverdevice 20 may create a web page or the like based on an image collectedfrom each vehicle and corresponding to each position, disclose the webpage on the Internet, and distribute information based on the image.With this, another person can know the position of the automobile 99 ora road surface condition at a position of each vehicle from a remotelocation. With this, since an actual road surface condition that a fixedpoint camera has difficulty capturing is captured and put into publicuse, a road surface condition of each place can be checked from a remotelocation, and an icy condition of, weather over, or the like of a roadto ski slopes can be checked in advance, for instance. Moreover, adangerous place can be identified by collecting and analyzing capturedimages, and thus early measures against danger can be taken. It is to benoted that a sensing unit that senses that a braking operation of theautomobile 99 has been performed may be provided to the second modifiedimage transmitting device, and when the sensing unit senses the brakingoperation, the image capturing device 101 a and the thermal image sensor120 a may perform capturing. With this, capturing can be efficientlyperformed in a situation where caution is required when a vehicle isdriven, and useful information calling for attention can be disclosed onthe Internet.

It is to be noted that the second modified image transmitting device maydisclose, on the Internet or the like, a current position of theautomobile 99, a destination, and a traveling route to the destination,based on information of a car navigation system mounted on theautomobile 99, for instance. With this, a pedestrian who is near thetraveling route of the automobile 99 and is heading to a place near thedestination of the automobile 99 can ask the automobile 99 for a ridevia the Internet. As described above, fuel consumed to transport peopleand cargo can be saved by the information transmission of the secondmodified image transmitting device, and the enhancement of convenienceas well as the saving of energy can be achieved.

Other Embodiments

Although the embodiments each describing an image transmitting devicehave been described above, each embodiment is a mere example, and itgoes without saying that various modifications can be made to theembodiment.

For instance, although the example has been described (refer to FIG. 3and FIG. 29) where the image capturing device 101 a is placed to capturea scene ahead of the automobile 99, the following may be possible toilluminate the scene with headlights in darkness and capture a brightimage. FIG. 33 is a diagram showing an example where an image capturingdevice 501 a and headlights 502 a and 502 b are placed to the automobile99. The automobile 99 shown in FIG. 33 has a front face to which theimage capturing device 501 a and the headlights 502 a and 502 b areplaced. In this configuration, a laser light source is used as a lightsource of the headlights 502 a and 502 b, and is a wavelength convertinglaser that performs wavelength conversion from laser light in anear-infrared range to laser light in a visible range. For example, asemiconductor laser having a wavelength of 1064 nanometers is used forthe laser light in the near-infrared range, and is a second harmonicgenerator (SHG) laser that passes the laser light in the near-infraredrange through a wavelength converting element such as lithium niobatecrystal, to convert the laser light in the near-infrared range into agreen light having a wavelength of 532 nanometers. Moreover, the imagecapturing device 501 a has sensitivity in a wavelength region of 1064nanometers. In general, the wavelength converting laser such as the SHGlaser does not convert a laser light having a long wavelength into alaser light having a 100% short wavelength, and normally emits the laserlight having the long wavelength together with a laser light having ashort wavelength resulting from approximately 50% wavelength conversion.Thus, the headlights 502 a and 502 b generate both the laser light of1064 nanometers and the laser light of 532 nanometers. In doing so, thescene ahead of the automobile 99 can be illuminated with the far-redlight having the wavelength of 1064 nanometers and the light having thewavelength of 532 nanometers emitted by the headlights 502 a and 502 b,and be captured. For instance, when a person 503 shown in FIG. 33 isahead of the automobile 99, the image capturing device 501 a hassensitivity for 1064 nanometers, and thus can capture a bright imagewithout illuminating the person 503 with extra brightness as theheadlights. Here, an illuminating light that makes the scene ahead ofthe automobile 99 directly viewable may be used as a wide spectrum lightresulting from illuminating a fluorescent body with the laser lighthaving the wavelength of 532 nanometers. At this time, a third harmonicgenerator (THG) laser for the light having the wavelength of 1064nanometers may make, as a blue light, a light having a wavelength of 355nanometers enter the fluorescent body. With this, although whiteheadlights are originally a single laser light source, the whiteheadlights having a spectrum in a full visible range can be formed. Itis to be noted that although the wavelength conversion from the laserlight having the wavelength of 1064 nanometers to the light having thewavelength of 532 nanometers or the wavelength of 355 nanometers hasbeen described as an example, the present invention is not limited tothis as long as a wavelength of the light is a wavelength in which theimage capturing device 501 a has sensitivity.

Moreover, the checking unit 184 of the image transmitting device checksthe communicability with the external device by measuring the receptionelectric field intensity of the detection waves 106 when the automobile99 is parked. The checking unit 184 may check the communicability withthe external device by, instead of measuring the reception electricfield intensity, causing the transmitting unit 183 to attempt totransmit an image captured by the capturing unit 181 and confirming,through communication with the external device, that the image isreceived by the external device. For example, the transmitting unit 183may transmit an image to the server device 20, upon successfullyreceiving the image, the server device 20 may transmit a notice of thesuccessful reception to the image transmitting device 100, and the imagetransmitting device 100 may determine that the communicability with theexternal device is confirmed, based on the reception of the notice ofthe successful reception. Furthermore, the transmitting unit 183 mayattempt to transmit an image to the mobile terminal 50 of the userthrough the base station or the like, and upon successfully receivingthe image, the mobile terminal 50 may transmit a notice of thesuccessful reception to the image transmitting device 100. Also in thiscase, the image transmitting device 100 is capable of determining thatthe communicability with the external device is confirmed, based on thereception of the notice of the successful reception.

Moreover, the checking unit 184 of the image transmitting device maycheck the communicability with the external device by measuring thereception electric field intensity of the detection waves while theautomobile 99 is not parked (is traveling or the like). A result of thechecking and a position of the automobile 99 may be stored inassociation with each other, and in the case where a result of checkingthe communicability with the external device when the automobile 99 isparked is negative, the providing unit 185 may provide a position whichis within a predetermined distance range from a parking place and wherethe communication with the external device is possible, based on theresult of checking. Furthermore, the providing unit 185 may display, forinstance, a result of checking the communicability with the externaldevice as shown in FIG. 8 while the automobile 99 is traveling or thelike. Moreover, regarding transmission of images captured by the imagecapturing device and the thermal image sensor to the external device,when a check result of the checking unit 184 shows that thecommunicability with the external device is denied, the transmittingunit 183 may suspend the transmission of the images. Subsequently, inthe case where a check result of the checking unit 184 when theautomobile 99 is parked or while the automobile 99 is traveling showsthat the communicability with the external device is confirmed, thetransmission of the images may be performed.

Moreover, the checking unit 284 of the image transmitting device maycheck the communicability with the external device based oncommunicability position information obtained before the automobile 99is parked, without checking the communicability with the external devicedepending on measurement of the reception electric field intensity ofthe detection waves 106.

Although the example where the image transmitting device is mounted onthe automobile 99 has been described in each of the embodiments, theimage transmitting device may be mounted on a vehicle (e.g., motorcycleand bicycle) other than the automobile. It is to be noted that it may bedetermined whether a bicycle is parked, for instance, based on anorientation of a kickstand of the bicycle or by sensing that a user(rider) has dismounted from a saddle of the bicycle.

Furthermore, the external device described in each of the embodimentsmay be a communication device outside of a vehicle that is a mobileobject, and is a fixed base station or a communication device connectedto the fixed base station over various networks (including telephonenetwork), for example. It is to be noted that examples of the externaldevice do not include a mobile device capable of mutually communicating,only through near field communication such as Bluetooth (registeredtrademark), with the image transmitting device mounted on the vehicle.

Moreover, all or part of each processing (processing procedures or thelike shown in FIG. 5, FIG. 13, and FIG. 24) performed by theabove-mentioned respective devices or the like may be executed by amechanism (hardware) of each device or software. It is to be noted thatthe execution of the processing by the software is achieved by aprocessor included in each device or the like executing a controlprogram stored in a memory. In addition, the control program may berecorded onto a recording medium and distributed. For instance, adistributed control program is installed into a device or the like, andthe device or the like can be caused to execute each processing(processing procedures or the like shown in FIG. 5, FIG. 13, and FIG.24) by causing a processor of the device to execute the control program.

Forms obtainable by making various modifications conceived by thoseskilled in the art to the above-mentioned respective embodiments orforms resulting from arbitrarily combining the structural elements andfunctions in the respective embodiments are included in the scope of thepresent invention.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

The present invention can be applied to an image transmitting device tobe mounted on a vehicle.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST

-   10 Vehicle security system-   11 Network-   20 Server device-   31, 32 Base station-   50 Mobile terminal-   51 User-   99 Automobile-   100, 100 a, 100 b, 200 Image transmitting device-   101, 101 a to 101 d, 123, 501 a Image capturing device-   102 Storage device-   103 Transmitter-   104 Transmission waves-   105 Detector-   106 Detection waves-   107 Controller-   110 Cockpit-   120, 120 a to 120 d Thermal image sensor-   121, 121 a to 121 d Room lamp-   181 Capturing unit-   182 Storing unit-   183 Transmitting unit-   184, 284 Checking unit-   185, 185 a Providing unit-   186 Detecting unit-   187 Abnormality detecting unit-   188 Sensing unit-   201 Car navigation system-   291 Receiving unit-   292 Obtaining unit-   293 Positioning unit-   294 Transferring unit-   502 a Headlight

The invention claimed is:
 1. An image transmitting device to be mountedon a vehicle, the image transmitting device comprising: a capturing unitconfigured to capture an infrared image using an infrared cameradirected toward an outside of the vehicle while the vehicle istraveling, and record images sequentially captured onto a recordingmedium; a transmitting unit configured to transmit the infrared imagecaptured by the capturing unit to an external device outside of thevehicle; and a sensing unit configured to sense that a braking operationof the vehicle has been performed; and a checking unit configured to (i)check communicability with the external device by measuring receptionelectric field intensity of radio waves from the external device, (ii)output a result of the checking showing that the communicability isconfirmed when the measured reception electric field intensity isgreater than a predetermined level, and (iii) output a result of thechecking showing that the communicability is denied when the measuredreception electric field intensity is less than the predetermined level,wherein the capturing unit is configured to perform the capturing whenthe sensing unit senses that the braking operation has been performed,and wherein the transmitting unit is configured to avoid transmittinginformation about the infrared image to the external device when theresult of the checking outputted by the checking unit shows that thecommunicability is denied, and subsequently transmit a captured infraredimage recorded on the storage medium when the result of the checkingoutputted by the checking unit shows that the communicability isconfirmed.
 2. The image transmitting according to claim 1, wherein thetransmitting unit is configured to transmit, together with the infraredimage, a position at which the infrared image is captured.